Tarbiyya Tatali

African Apocalypse

Marie-Françoise — 2025-07-26T07:48:25Z

Rob Lemkin

Rob Lemkin is the director of over fifty documentaries, including African Apocalypse (2020), which he co-wrote with Femi Nylander and Matt McConaghy and filmed with Claude Garnier. Rob's other films include Enemies of the People (2009), about the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, which won the Jury Prize at Sundance.

Synopsis

British-Nigerian poet and activist Femi Nylander travels to West Africa to discover the contemporary impact on its populations of the atrocities committed over a century ago by the Central Africa Mission (Colonne Voulet and Chanoine).

Femi follows in the footsteps of the French officer, Paul Voulet, who blazed a trail of unspeakable barbarity through Niger. Voulet's actions faithfully reflect the colonial horror depicted in Joseph Conrad's famous novel, Heart of Darkness, written at the very time Voulet unleashed his murderous rampage in 1899.

In Niger, with the words and images of Conrad's time still fresh in his mind, Femi rediscovers painful memories and communities (including those of Lougou, Dioundiou, and Birni'n Konni) still living with the traumatic consequences of the violence committed over a century ago.

But at the heart of this terrible story, Femi also discovers the beauty of Niger and a breath of hope: young people working together to harness the power of its most precious resource: sunlight, as part of the National Solar Energy Agency (ANERSOL).

Film Screening

African Apocalypse premiered at the 64^th BFI London Film Festival on October 16, 2020. It was broadcast by the BBC.

In Niger, it was screened in Niamey and other cities. In 2024, a thousand people attended its screening in Konni Prefecture, Niger – the site of the largest French colonial massacre in 1899.

It was not screened in France.

Reparations Demands

African Apocalypse served as a catalyst for the mobilization of local Nigerien communities, which led to demands for reparations submitted to the UN.

Bawa Kadade Riba

Marie-Françoise — 2020-08-17T14:49:19Z

Since the early 2010s, Bawa Kadade Riba has been involved in documentary filma. He participated in several training courses and film meetings before obtaining his master 2 in film production in Senegal (Saint Louis) in 2016. He directed a school film (short film) “The Horse, Malick andI”, co-directed a collective feature film “Hostages'School'” still within the framework of the training.

“[Étincelles- (Sparkles)>http://www.docmonde.org/etincelles/]”, dating from 2019, is his first documentary feature. It takes place in Mailo, one of the villages of Dankassari. “Zara's garage”, visible on arte.tv is a documentary dating from 2022 , as part of Generation Africa - Plural stories about the youth of a continent

Bawa chairs the Association Culture+ Niger. He is at the origin of the project Muryar Mata. He is one of the authors of the filmed sketches “[Akwai Magana! Let us talk about it” season 1, season 2.

Bawa is the president of Nouvel Espoir, a member of the Tarbiyya Tatali collective since August 2022.

Amina Abdoulaye Mamani

Marie-Françoise — 2020-08-16T15:51:01Z

Amina Abdoulaye Mamani is a Nigerien director, screenwriter, and producer.

She is notably known for:

her graduation film Hawan Idi, which won the Best School Documentary Film Award at FESPACO 2013,
her feature-length documentary Sur les traces de Mamani Abdoulaye (2018), which she directed after extensive research on the life of her father, the writer Abdoulaye Mamani,
her short film L'Envoyée de Dieu (2022), which addresses the fate of hostages held by armed terrorist groups and transforms them into suicide bombers and has received numerous awards.

Thank you for agreeing to answer our questions. Tell us about your film 'Following Mamani Abdoulaye', an homage to your late father…
It is a quest, rather : I haven't much known my father who was born in 1932 at Zinder, When he died in 1993, I was only 10 years old. Not knowing him well triggered my decision to make the film, I wanted to follow my dear father's steps.

(You awaited his return for a long time)
We lived in Zinder, my father left our home to go to Niamey and receive the Boubou Hama Literary Award, He died on the way to Niamey to receive the prize, He had promised my sisters and me to bring back a doll each, I waited for the promised doll for a long time, but he never returned, The older I grew, the more I missed my father.

Mamani Abdoulaye is mainly known as a writer...
He is well known for a novel entitled Sarraounia, published in 1980, It is the story of a local queen who stood against the advance of the Voulet-Chanoine Mission, he presented her as a hero in the fight against colonization, The novel is part of the school program, it is studied at university. He also wrote poems, plays and other novels.

What about his political involvement ?{}
Thanks to persons I have met, I have discovered that he had been a trade-union member in the 50's, and a member of the Nigerien Progressist Party (PPN), In 1955, aged 25, he was elected Zinder 's representative for the Sawaba Party, created from a split from the PPN, later he was the Niger Delegate to the French Western African Council in Dakar. In 1960, with independence, the Sawaba was banned by the established government. My father directed the newspaper of the party that had really struggled for genuine independence for Niger, by saying 'No' to General de Gaulle. Wanted and threatened with death, he took refuge in Algeria, the revolutionaries'mecca at the time, He worked for the Algerien radio and was a teacher at Alger's Journalism School, Back in Niger at the end of the seventies, he devoted his time mostly to writing,

What have you been involved in since your father's death in 1993 ?
I completed my studies normally. When he died, I was a primary school student in grade 5, I was born and grew up in Zinder,then I moved to Nyamey,
After graduating from High school, I took a marketing course. In 2008, the newspaper SAHEL published a call for ten female candidates with an interest in documentary films. For a long time, I had wanted to make films, but didn't know how to start. I was accepted, and followed various courses in documentary scripts. The idea of making a film on my father dawned on me, as I had already written a short story on him.

I registered with the Information and Communication Institute (IFTIC) and I graduated in audiovisual production , My student film, Hawan Idi, was awarded Best Student Documentary Film at the FESPACO (Panafrican Film and Television Festival at Ouagadougou) in 2013, In 2014, I was invited in residence in France at Annecy, for nearly a year, so as to develop my project of a documentary on my father,

How did you proceed to build the story telling line of 'On the trail of Mamani Abdoulaye'?

It was very difficult for me to consult archives. The film took 10 years of my life, in between research, writing, filming and editing, I started in 2008 and completed it in 2018. It was exhausting, but I was determined.

How was the film received ?
The film was very well received at the African Film and Audiovisual International Market (FESTACO) in 2019. On June 8^th, 2019, the film's premiere took place in Niamey. It was very well received, the cinema was full, and some of Mamani's companions were present. It was the first time for Nigeriens to discover his course, since his struggle as a trade union defender and as a politician are not recorded in official history. Some Nigerien historians congratulated me, saying : 'Your work is extraordinary, we should have done it, and you are the one who took it up'.

On Mamani Abdoulaye‘s steps has been shown in various festivals in Burkina Faso, Switzerland, France, Algeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Canada… It was awarded the jury's Special Mention at the International Film Festival in Algiers. It has been selected at other Festivals, but all film shows have currently been suspended owing to the COVID pandemic.

« Sur les traces de Mamani Abdoulaye » is available by replay o, TV5.

Interview byNacima Chabani for Elwatan and by Marie-Françoise Roy forTarbiyya Tatali.
See here

Documentary: 'On the trail of Mamani Abdoulaye'
Interview published in Le Magazine de Tarbiyya-Tatali number 12 (here)

Amina Weira

Marie-Françoise — 2016-12-31T17:18:55Z

Amina Weira's Films

She directed 3 films at school: Film Music (2011), From Studies to Honey (2012), It Can Be Done in 2013.

Anger in the Wind (2016), her first professional film, concerns contamination: she follows her father, a retired miner in her home town, Arlit, (North Niger),where the French Company Areva has been exploiting uranium since 1976.
At the first show in France, on the occasion of the Documentary States General at Lussas, Jean-Marie Barbe wrote in his presentation of the Doc Monde program:
“In Anger in the Wind, Amina Weira's frail silhouette walks in her hometown, Arlit in North Niger, from house to house, guided by her father. She reveals the daily impact of nuclear contamination. From the start, the film's purpose is obvious. The frail woman's determination seems such a miracle that viewers are mesmerized by the film, which presents reality as it has never been shown before, as it is experienced by local people. The pictures of sand wind at the end are imprinted in our minds, those clouds now so laden with death give the film its poetic dimension. .

Amina Weira

La colère dans le vent, affichette Arvor

La colère dans le vent, fiche technique

La colère dans le vent, affiche

Maman Siradji Bakabe

Marie-Françoise — 2016-02-21T16:09:49Z

Filmography

Honourable Member of Parliament (Fiction, 2007)
PIP2, substantial achievements (Institutional Documentary, 2008)
And our films…? (Author's documentary, 2009)
Prodex, the strategy of making do ( institutional documentary)
A Day With Moussa (documentary film, 2011)
Emancipation of slave-born families in Niger (Institutional Documentary, 2015).

Cameraman for film makers

A Day With Abdoulhaoune directed by Rakia Kader (doc)
A Day With Alhousseini, directed by Idi Nouhou (doc)
A Day With Moussa, directed by Bakabe M Siradji(doc)
A Picture Chronicle for Ordinary People, directed by Idi Nouhou (doc)
Mediating Ladies, directed by Sani Magori (doc)
Anigourane, the cave paintings of the Aïr, directed by the Franco-Malien Catherine Payen (fiction)
Binta's Dilemma directed by Aicha Macky (fiction)
Standards, For Whom ? directed by Aicha Macky
Dance Street, directed by Nadege Batou, Congo (doc)
Ruwa falala Lougou/ Water has come to Lougou at last! directed by Idi Nouhou
A Girl Trio in Dankassari, directed by Idi Nouhou.

Current Projects

Sharo, a practice, a people (documentary in the making)
Zara Dibissou the golden voice of Niger (documentary in the making)

Idi Nouhou

Marie-Françoise — 2016-01-07T13:47:45Z

In november 2015, during the Month of Documentaries, Idi Nouhou visited St Brieuc on the occasion of the projection of his film ‘Illustrated Chronicle for the Common People', relating the Nigerien cartoonist AlbouKarim Nassoua's activities. “In Niger, mockery can be used as a tool to defuse social resentment. Through the portrait of Abdoulkarim Nassoua, a young Nigerien cartoonist, and through his cartoons circulating in working class districts, the producer offers a cool and humorous chronicle of his country's political life”.
He has also wrote the final show of “Maradi Kolliya”, the 2015 issue of the revolving Independence Festival.

Idi Nouhou's film catalogue (as a producer or script writer).

Director of the film A girl trio in Dankassari, 15mns, 2018
Director of the film / Ruwa falala Lougou/ Water has come to Lougou at last! 13mns, 2016
Director of the film Illustrated Chronicle for the Common People, 52mns, 2012.
Director of the film One Day with Alhousseni, 13mns, 2011.
Director of the film After The Festival (40 mns), about the Camel Salt Cure – Ingall 2010.
Sound track of the film series In the Light of Niger, produced by the African Forum of Documentary in Niamey, 2009-2010.
Director of Quest…, Film School production in St Louis, in 2009.
Concessions, a project of television series in 52 instalments, with the Mali International Film Center (joint-scriptwriting).
Cida da Gobara, radio series in zarma and haoussa, on reproductive health among the young, (joint-scriptwriting).
Lafi-Keneya-Lafiya, radio series in 15 instalments, including Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, produced at Imagine in Burkina Faso (joint-scriptwriting).
Gobe da Haske, audio film in 144 instalments, aimed at community radios, produced by Youth Initiative and Population Media Center, financed by Usaid, and broadcast by satellite over Western Africa and on The Voice of Sahel (joint-scriptwrititng).

Theatre Works (writing and directing)

Biya The Double, an adaptation of Marvellous Africa by Boubou Hama, created by the Niger Stage, on April 21^st, 2006 at the Niamey CCFN.
Ruwan Zuma, created at Agadès during Niger Theatre Meeting, 2003. The play was broadcast by Niger National Television in September 2004.
Gambara-soul, script and direction, created at the Stage Center, during the Theatre Meeting of Niger, 2003.
Badadroum, the Misadventures of Sakarai, created during the RECREATHEATRICAL, 1^st edition, in a new production by Cheick Kotondi, at the Algiers Panafrican Festival in July 2009, and at the
Arts Nègres Festival in Dakar in 2010.

Sani Magori

Marie-Françoise — 2015-04-16T16:20:44Z

From Sani Magori's film catalogue :

For Better and For Onion
Koukan Kourcia : the Turtle Dove's Cry
Koukan Kourcia : the Go-Betweens

During his visit to Rennes in november 2014, Sani Magori has been photographed by Joris Le Guidart and had an interview with him.

Sani Magori, par Joris Le Guidart

Extracts from the interview :

JLG : Has the advent of digital film changed film making in Niger ?

SM: Of course it has. Actually, over the past few years film production has increased, concerning both the number of films and of film makers. The cost of production has fallen, implementation has become simpler, consequently many people have started filming. I can say that digital film has made it easier for me to start film making, as I haven't been in this line for long. Many others, who hadn't filmed for years owing to a lack of funding, have now started producing again thanks to digital film. This applies for instance to former film makers such as Djingarey Maïga, who used to produce a film every 15 or 20 years has recently made two films over the past ten years. It has revolutionized film making, particularly documentaries, our elders didn't make documentaries because film stock was expensive and it wasn't profitable. Documentaries have taken advantage od the advent of digital film, which allows low budget films. For me, the main function of a documentary is to give evidence of a fact, and hand it down to posterity. Therefore, digital filming has had a huge impact on the advent of a new generation o African film makers, particularly documentarists. Think of Nollywood: it thanks to digital filming that Nigeria now ranks second in the world for the number of films produced. All that proceeds from digital films. We make the most of today's new techniques: we don't waste time digitizing, we use memory cards, we film, we unload, we can erase, it lowers costs considerably. Nowadays, a film can be made at home by a single person, we have seen such films get worldwide impact. Digital technique has contributed a lot in Africa.

JLG : Do such facilities as CNC (National Center for the Cinema), or the Cinémathèque (Film Library) exist in Niger. ?

S.M: No they don't. No facility gathers film data, there is no film library. Individuals save their own digitalized films at home. I save all the rushes of my shootings. I can stock all my films, because I have my own production house, I produce my own films and other people's. We also have a film nursery, a sort of friendly society to help each other produce our own films. When young people don't have the means or the arguments to convince a producer to finance their project, we give them some equipment, some training, we have various cameras, with graded technologies, PD150 for example which are easy to handle, and if their project is genuinely feasible, we give them a hand. There is a network, Africadoc, which helps to develop a project, to meet professionals

Complete interview

Aïcha Macky

Marie-Françoise — 2015-04-16T16:15:33Z

Aïcha Macky has been a permanent member of the Academy of Oscars since 2024.

At the 2021 Fespaco, Aïcha Macki was awarded two prizes : Best Western Africa Producer Prize and Ladies' Special Prize, Peace Ambassador, as well as a Special Award from the Friendship Council gathering the Western Africa countries.

Aïcha Macky's films

Zinder (2021)

The Fruitless Tree (2015)

Knowing how to make the bed (2013)

During her stay in Rennes and Cesson in March 2015, Aïcha Macky was photographed by Joris Le Guidart.

Aïcha Macky, par Joris Le Guidart